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About

Jiahao Sun is a leading researcher in the field of soft robotics and smart materials, with a primary focus on liquid crystal elastomers (LCEs) and their application as artificial muscles. His major contributions center on engineering LCE fibers that achieve unprecedented performance in both speed and strength. In his highly cited 2021 work, Sun developed ultrafast, high-contractile electrothermal-driven LCE fibers capable of large, reversible deformations, solving a key limitation in artificial muscle technology. That paper alone has garnered over 200 citations. He further advanced the field by creating LCE twist fibers that function as rotating microengines—untethered devices that generate continuous torque without complex anchoring structures, a breakthrough cited more than 150 times. Most recently, Sun pioneered the additive manufacturing of LCE actuators using knitting technology, enabling customizable, complex actuator geometries with precise control over alignment and shape. His work bridges materials science and manufacturing, pushing LCEs closer to real-world robotic and biomedical applications. With cumulative citations exceeding 450 for these key papers, Sun is recognized as a rising innovator in stimuli-responsive materials and soft actuation.